Arté Wine and Painting Studio — Attraction in Wauwatosa

My husband and I have used the open canvas painting at Arte as a good date night and those other times I would have rated them 4 or 5 stars. We have also used it as rewards for our children. Their bar is off to the side and can easily be missed by children so I don't feel as if I am bringing my children to a bar to paint.

Their child policy clearly states (I cut and paste):

Child Policy - Open Canvas Children of all ages are welcome to come and paint in our Open Canvas area Tues - Thur 5pm - 10pm, Saturday 10am - 5pm and Sunday 12pm - 6pm.

Friday and Saturday after 5pm - minimum age 16. 16-18 year olds must be accompanied by a parent.

Based on this information, I dropped off my preteen with 3 of my other children (4 all together) while I drove my teenager to an appointment. Before I left, I made sure that the children were situated and mentioned to the server/artist that I was leaving and would be right back. Immediately when I left, a different server (manager?) asked my kids when I was going to return and proceeded to talk to them in a condescending way. While I was gone, the children painted and kept to themselves, not causing a raucous or calling attention to themselves in any way. I was back within 45 minutes, due to traffic and parking. When I got there, they were sitting quietly and painting. Julie (the manager? server?) came and told me in a very snooty way that they are a bar first and painting second and therefore I was not allowed to leave my children there.

I apologized and explained that I didn't see that on the website and it was a mistake; thanks for letting me know for the future. She was obnoxious to us the rest of the evening. When I went to pay, she tacked on a gratuity tax of 18%, which is their policy for groups of 6. We were a group of 5 so I asked her why that was added. She said it was because I was there and helped my children. I reminded her that I did not paint and that I helped my children since no one else did. Then she said, and we watched your kids for an hour. Fine, I'll eat that cost but when I came home to recheck the website, I did NOT find anywhere that says that kids can not be there on their own. I bet if I had a group of 15 year olds there, it would not have been a problem. In addition, if they are a bar first, and paint second, then any unaccompanied minor under 21 would pose a problem.

I still like the ambience there and will visit with my husband and my children. I also would like people to know, though, that they aren't as child-friendly as their...

We had a good time and came away with some cute paintings.

My review is based on comparisons to other paint and sip bars I have been to:

You enter the building right in a studio area and have to walk through it to get to the bar and class area. A little strange, but fine. I don't know if I would like to be working in that area and have people coming in and out around me, but it didn't appear to bother those working on projects.

The class area is small which is certainly a plus as far being able to communicate and hear the "instructor." I put that in quotes because there really wasn't much instruction. More of a step-by-step walk through. No direction on how to use each type of brush, and hardly any description of how to mix colors. For myself, I did not need much, however people who do not paint regularly (or at all) are paying for a CLASS and should be able to receive that instruction for their work.

I also felt it was unacceptable that she just reached over my friend's shoulder and started drawing on her canvas. Didn't ask. No discussion. Just, "here, let me fix that." What? And then stating there is a tip jar for you to give them more money is just not right. You are suppose to be a teacher. Never in my life have I been in any type of class where the students are even suggested to tip a teacher. You certainly didn't HAVE to tip, but that's just unprofessional.

We did have fun and the purchased drinks and...

I really wanted to love this place. Booked a party for my friend’s bachelorette party. First, the “artist/server” was coming from an off-site event and arrived late. This was not a huge deal since she called me and let me know she was running late, and I was actually pleasantly surprised with the good communication. However, it still is not a good look for guests arriving to a closed building. When we got there and started ordering drinks/ apps and picking our paintings, she was not very friendly and had a overall negative attitude towards us. I ordered an Italian soda, and she brought me a soda with a bunch of chunky, unmixed flavor mix floating at the top. It is surprising that anyone would think that it was acceptable to serve to a customer. To make things worse, at the end of the event, we paid and the server complained to the last girl paying that groups our size should pay 18% tip and we were all doing 15%. First, I have never met a server rude enough to comment on the tip. Second, if that’s the policy, they should either put a sign indicating that policy or pre-calculate the tip into the total before you pay. Lastly, here’s a tip… do a good job and be friendly and maybe people will give you...